Professor and Director for the Center of Applied AI at St. Thomas Dr. Manjeet Rege wrote a column for the Star Tribune on how AI can be useful for lawyers.
From the column: One sector, however, where many have doubted that AI could make a difference is critical thinking by lawyers in the courtroom. There are many ways, though, that AI can help the legal process without replacing lawyers. A lawyer who prepares adequately has more chances of winning their case, and AI can help with research. AI eliminates the arduous task of legal analysis by searching and discovering case numbers and main arguments of cases in bulk documents.
In addition, intellectual property law has many possible AI applications.
For instance, a key component of intellectual property is due diligence. Finding critical patents in a portfolio is a cumbersome task in which automation can be handy. AI technologies mimic the behavior of expert searchers by comparing competitor and market information with existing patents. In 2016, the due diligence for the acquisition of ARM by SoftBank for $31 billion was completed in a matter of days using AI systems, as reported by Forbes.